The Hindu 18.03.2013
Give us prior notice before digging up roads, say Salem residents
People inconvenienced because vehicular movement is hit.
The Convent Road in Mittapudur that was dug for laying
water pipeline has caused hardship to the residents as the civic body
carried out the work without prior notice, thereby affecting vehicular
movement.
Residents in the area said that pipelines,
each about 20 metre length, were stocked along the road on Saturday and
two earthmovers began to dig up the road by afternoon.
Only
after the work began, they realised that vehicular movement was not
possible in the narrow road and demanded they could have been alerted
about the work.
They added that mushrooming of houses
in the area has led to frequent movement of the public, but the width
of the road, that is less than 10 feet, was not extended and hence only
pedestrians and two-wheelers can move.
A cab owner
said that his vehicle was stationed in his residence could not be moved
out due to the work and he could not pick up his customers.
“If we had been informed, I could have parked my vehicle somewhere else and carried out my business,” a frustrated owner added.
They
also said that the roads were hurriedly closed after laying pipelines,
resulting in potholes at many places making it dangerous even for
pedestrians, during night hours.
Residents also
demanded that the road be re-laid immediately before accidents occur.
Corporation officials said that since the work was scheduled to be
completed in a few days, the public was not informed.
Pit closed
They
added that the pit was closed and re-laying would be carried out only
after completing the under ground drainage work that would begin soon.
Residents
in the area demanded that the civic body should assure that re-laying
of roads would be done after completing the underground drainage work in
time, as delay in executing the work would affect the movement of over
1,000 families in the area.
Civic body stacked water pipes on the road and began digging up the road using earthmovers.